


Next Class Season 4 Alternative/Reimagining

by eeveepacini



Category: Degrassi, Degrassi: Next Class
Genre: Angst, Drama, High School, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:09:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25492132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeveepacini/pseuds/eeveepacini
Summary: This is a reimagining/alternative of Degrassi: Next Class written/published before the release of the episodes. It follows the perspectives of all different characters in what I imagined to be a possible season 4 back in 2017. Enjoy!
Relationships: Frankie Hollingsworth/Esme Song, Maya Matlin/Zig Novak, Saad Al'Maliki/Maya Matlin, Zig Novak/Esme Song, Zoë Rivas/Rasha Zuabi
Kudos: 2





	Next Class Season 4 Alternative/Reimagining

#IFindItFunnyHow || Synopsis: Maya returns to Degrassi hoping to fly under the radar but quickly finds that her suicide attempt did not go unnoticed. After Zig finds out about Saad's involvement in Maya's breakdown, he makes it a mission to destroy him, but Esme tries to hold him back. Zoe decides to look for a new school president to take over once she graduates, but overlooks an obvious choice.

 **Maya** woke up in a cold sweat. Another stupid nightmare. Every night since waking up in the hospital following her overdose Maya had a horrible, graphic dream about dying -- a different method every night. The deaths started off simple, like another overdose or bus crash. But over the past two weeks, they'd gotten more morbid -- more real. The horrific things her brain was conjuring up were similar to the tragic videos she'd watched online just a few weeks before she was at the brink of death.  
Being at the edge of death had scared her into submission to say the least. Death was still almost all she thought about -- but that was mostly because it was all she ever got to talk about. Every minute of every day, Katie and her mom were hounding her asking her how she felt. If she needed any water, wondering if they should take all of the Tylenol out of the house so Maya wouldn't be triggered or try to kill herself again... Maya knew they meant well, but she was running out of patience.  
The first day back to school was today, and as much as she didn't want everyone staring at her with pity-eyes, she needed to get out of the house before she went insane. Again.  
Her fingers traced over a neon pink sweater in her closet. That was too old Maya. She touched a black sweatshirt next -- far too last semester Maya. Her Degrassi uniform from grade 9 grazed her finger-tips... Now that was a whole different lifetime ago.  
She needed to find something that showed who the new and improved Maya was going to be. She hadn’t quite pinned that persona down, though, so it was hard to know what to wear. Who was she now?  
Suicide attempt survivor. That was who she was now. And who she'd be for the rest of her life. At least… a piece of her. Maya felt like she was so many things now. The girl who almost killed herself, Zig's ex, Miles's ex, the girl whose boyfriend had killed himself... And before Cam, she was nothing but Katie's little sister. The cello girl. It was crazy many times she'd shed her skin in her short seventeen years on earth. It was also crazy that there was more to come. So much more. She'd probably graduate from Degrassi, and go to college... Have a family, a husband… a full life. For now, though, she needed to take things day-by-day.  
She settled on a midnight blue swing dress and a mustard yellow corduroy cropped jacket. A little bit of the more fun, bright Maya with a twist of dark Maya. The yellow was an accidental but not unnoticed reference back to freshman year Maya. She slipped on a pair of matching yellow ankle boots and pulled her hair into a tight bun. She managed a slight smile looking in the mirror. She knew that this first day was going to be hell, but at least she was going to get out of the house.  
"Maya?" Maya's mother called. "Have you done your journal entry this morning?"  
Maya exhaled deeply. The journal had become a bit of a sore subject. She was supposed to write in it every morning about how she felt and how she thought she was progressing. The first few days when she was being kept at the hospital were fruitful, but she was sixteen days post-suicide attempt and had began to run out of words and thoughts to share. There's only so many times you can say you're surprised you're still alive before it starts feeling stale.  
She picked up the journal and flipped through it. The name 'Cam' was on almost every single page. As was 'Zig', to a lesser extent. Thinking about the two people who had impacted her life the most who were no longer in her life was too much for her this early in the morning. She picked up a pen and opened to a blank page. 'I feel fine.' She wrote and then promptly shut the journal. She knew her mother snuck into her room and checked the journal periodically, but in order to call Maya out on slacking, she'd have to admit she was snooping. And Maya was pretty damn sure her mother wasn’t going to do that.  
"Yes, all done!" Maya called back to her mom in the most fake peppy voice she could muster, before shoving the journal into her backpack and leaving her bedroom. Time to face the real world once again. The real world of high school, anyway.

 **Zoe** read over the speech written for her, preparing to address the school in the semester's first assembly. Usually she'd just ad-lib it, but apparently there was news that needed to be stated sensitively. Zoe's reputation for a lack of sensitivity and decorum over the years had caused Principal Simpson to take control. Apparently he needed to ensure that the message going out would be said the way he wanted it to be said.  
She looked out into the crowd and saw so many friendly faces. Her gaze stopped, though, on Rasha. Beautiful, fantastic Rasha. The tiny girl was giggling along with Grace and Jonah in the front row.  
Jonah had become somewhat of a friend to Zoe over the last two weeks or so. He and Grace had started some sort of love connection and since Zoe and Grace were in tight living quarters at the Cardinal house, Zoe had no choice but to get to know him. There were things about Jonah she didn't approve of, as always, but as long as Grace was happy, that was what mattered.  
Zoe had never felt so lucky in her life. Everyone around her got along. She had friends who weren't there out of fear or obligation. And she had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who liked her back, maybe even loved her. The drama that had taken over her life in the past four years or so didn't matter anymore. The girl who played Gatsby Garcia and got kicked off The West Drive Experience for having a pill popping issue was gone. The girl who schemed and hurt the people around her, played games, and caused trouble for trouble's sake didn't exist anymore. She'd found herself. Her true, happy self.  
Zoe took the podium and flashed a presidential grin at the crowd. "Good morning, Degrassians. And welcome to the 2017 spring semester at Degrassi Community School. I'm Zoe Rivas, the class president, for anyone who may be new. This is Goldi, my vice, and Winston Chu, our third in command." She gestured over to Winston and Goldi, who were seated on the stage behind her. "We have a great semester with tons of exciting opportunities and events ahead of us. So get excited and don't forget... Get involved!" She paused, allowing the crowd to cheer as they always did when events were mentioned. Apparently the concept of dances and parties never got old to Degrassi students. Teens were easy to please.  
"There is a new addition to our staff, because of events taking place last semester. I'm pleased to introduce everybody to our school therapist, Ms. Halliwell, who will be on call and available for anybody who needs to talk." Zoe paused, her eyes wandering to someone who had just entered the room. Maya. She felt guilty as she continued, knowing that Maya was going to be uncomfortable with the development caused by her suicide attempt. "Ms. Halliwell is a licensed psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent psychology, which means that she's an expert in all things teen." She looked at the perplexed looks in the crowd at the weird phrasing. "Blame Principal Simpson for the cheesy speech, guys." She pointed at the principal light-heartedly and received a smile back. Just a couple of years ago she was in Simpson's office receiving nothing but glares and warnings, and she was getting smiles. There was no way to describe how proud Zoe was of herself for the way she had grown and matured.

 **Maya** had walked into the assembly at the worst time. Zoe, who she still hadn't found room in her heart to fully forgive, was announcing the arrival of a school therapist. Due to 'events taking place last semester', which Maya of course knew was referring to her.  
Everyone turned their heads. Well, not everyone, but it sure felt that way. Entering late was one way to grab everyone's attention, but when you were the girl who almost killed herself during the school play, people tended to stare a few seconds longer. Everyone she knew and people she didn't were all making the same pitiful look toward her. Everyone but Esme, who had her eyes glued to Zig, watching as he looked at Maya with worry in his eyes. Maya knew that there was going to be drama with Esme. There always was. But she wasn't going to deal with it today.  
She'd heard that Esme was the one who found her. Esme and Zig. Of course, she didn't remember this because she was a little too busy almost dying, but she wondered if she should thank Esme. From the look on Esme's face however, something was telling Maya she wasn't interested in hearing a word Maya had to say.  
Zoe was wrapping up the assembly, so Maya was getting out of there before she was trampled by well-meaning acquaintances. Just as quickly as she entered, she exited and headed toward the front doors of the school. There was nowhere to go, but she just didn't want to be there.

 **Grace** wrapped her arms around Jonah as students filed out of the assembly. "See you after class." She said, and waved to Jonah as he walked away. The two of them were keeping things on the down-low for now. So escorts to class were sort of out of the question until they figured out how to break the news without causing Frankie to have a meltdown of epic proportions. Before she had a chance to begin her trek to her first period, Zig had appeared out of nowhere in front of her.  
"Is Maya okay?" Zig questioned, as if Grace had much more intel than he did.  
"I wouldn't know. She's been kind of quarantined from the world. Healing process. And I've been busy with..." Her voice trailed off, knowing that Jonah's existence was a bit of a sore subject for Zig, and knowing that she wasn't exactly allowed to publicly brag about her new beau.  
Zig shook his head. "Jonah. I know. It was only a matter of time once you two started working on the play together. Congrats." He actually sounded genuine. Grace wasn't expecting Zig to be so cool, when just a semester earlier Jonah Haak was public enemy number one and the reason his relationship with Maya had crashed and burned.  
Grace and Zig's conversation was interrupted when someone was shoved into the two of them. "Muslim freak!" A familiar voice, Hunter Hollingsworth, shouted as he shoved a skinny boy into the middle of the conversation. It was Saad -- the guy who had encouraged Maya's breakdown with those disgusting death photos of Maya. Those photos had haunted Grace. She had spent the nights after Maya's suicide attempt just staring at those photos, imagining what would've happened if Maya hadn't pulled through. Having actual photos depicting Maya, even if they were fake and staged, was just a level of real-life horror that Grace couldn’t handle.  
Grace and Saad's eyes met one another and Saad bolted before Grace could say anything. "What's the damage there?" Zig questioned immediately, sensing that something had clearly gone wrong between the two. Apparently Zig really was caught up in Esme's web. He didn't recognize the guy who had been by Maya's side for the entirety of last semester. Zig had always been Maya's number one stalker practically since Grace had met the two, so his lapse in knowledge was surprising.  
Grace's hands reached into her pocket and she pulled out her phone, showing Zig the photos. His eyes widened when his eyes laid on the photos of his ex girlfriend lying on the concrete with blood covering her face. “He’s the one who helped Maya with her… creative vision.”  
"He took those?" Zig was suddenly fuming. "I'm gonna really kill him."  
Grace's hands reached to touch Zig's shoulder and hold him back, but there was nothing she could do to hold back the barreling teenager. He was much stronger than her, clearly, and he was on a mission. He disappeared into the crowd of students exiting the assembly in pursuit of Saad, and nobody, not even Grace, couldn't stop him.

 **Zoe's** lips met Rasha's excitedly. Her life was almost perfect. Other than the whole situation with her mom kicking her out, she had nothing to complain about. And even the situation with her mom was far from her mind at this point. There was nothing she could do to change her mom being homophobic, and stressing about it day after day was just going to give her premature wrinkles.  
After the assembly, Simpson had even notified her she was a top contender for valedictorian. It was between her and Tiny Bell. Tiny may've had the smarts, but Zoe was the school president and a bit of a figurehead. If it came down to it, she figured she had the vote. All she had to do was make it through the rest of the semester without any drama, and she'd be speaking at graduation.  
"So, who is going to be taking your place as school president once you abandon me?" Rasha questioned, placing a dramatic tone on the mention of abandonment.  
Zoe found herself bewildered. She hadn't even really thought about that. She wasn't originally supposed to be president anyway. She'd taken over after Tristan's accident and since Tristan hadn't recovered, it'd just become her thing. And she was good at it. Better than she'd ever imagined. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to give up being in charge like this. After acting, it had been so hard to find her thing. She had tried cheerleading; she'd tried being queen bee... But this was the best of both worlds. She was in control without everyone hating her guts. Would she be able to find something like that after high school?  
"I hadn't thought about it." Zoe admitted. "I guess I should look around. Hold interviews during lunch or something."  
Most of the time Rasha was easy to read. She wore her emotions on her sleeve. But occasionally, Zoe was left stumped. And this was one of those times. Rasha's lips pursed and her eyebrows raised. "You're right. I guess you should look around." She paused. "See who pops up."

 **Zig** was on his way to pound Saad beyond recognition. Saad was at fault. He was the reason Maya had gotten to that point. Him, his stupid camera and his stupid, stupid face. Zig should've been watching closer. He shouldn't have allowed himself to get so caught up in Esme, so caught up in forgetting about Maya, and so caught up in having fun instead of pursuing what actually mattered to him. He cared about Esme, but that didn’t excuse him neglecting the girl that just a year ago he'd planned on marrying one day.  
Saad was leaning up against a locker staring at his camera.  
"Take any suicide pictures lately?" Zig started, bringing his body close to Saad's. "Cause any girls to overdose, maybe? Ruin any lives?"  
Zig knew he was coming on strong. But he didn't care. That was the approach that was going to scare the crap out of Saad. And that's what he wanted. Maya almost lost her life. Sweet, innocent Maya. The girl who he'd met on the first day of freshman year and fallen for almost immediately. He tried denying it for a while, but Maya was always the one he wanted. He knew she was different from the moment he bumped into her in the hall. The way she willingly went with his scheme, the way she was so different from Tori, or any other girl he'd encountered since. She was the one he cared about more than anyone. Through all of the drama they'd gone through, Maya was the one who truly mattered. "What are you talking about?" Saad responded in his deeply accented voice. He had to know what Zig was talking about. He knew there was no way that Saad didn't know he was partly responsible for Maya's suicide attempt. Zig noticed a split in Saad's lip. It seemed many people had problems with the new kid. No surprise there Zig replied by slamming his hand into the locker next to Saad. "How dare you? You know what you did!"  
The scrawny boy blinked as Zig's temper rose.  
"You took those photos of Maya. You isolated her from her friends. You encouraged her to fantasize about death. How dare you?" Zig had lost control of his volume. Everyone was watching the two. He didn't care, though. People had the right to know what a piece of crap this Saad kid was. They deserved to know why the girl who had done no wrong to anyone suddenly disappeared into a dark cloud of depression and almost died on the roof.  
"You don't know what you're talking about." Saad spoke, shrinking to try to get away from Zig, who had him cornered. "I didn't do anything. I was just trying to be her friend. We were just trying to show that...that death is beautiful. That we shouldn't fear it."  
That was the moment Zig's fist connected with Saad's jaw. And it felt good. It felt so good. It was exactly the medicine that he needed. He was lost in his own world, getting ready to connect his fist with Saad's face once again when he felt a hand pulling him away.  
"What are you doing?!" A voice exclaimed. A familiar one. Esme. "Back off of him, Zig!" Zig backed off to look at Esme, and by the time he turned back to continue his attack on Saad, the skinny boy had slithered away and was halfway down the hallway. Everyone still had their eyes on Zig.  
Esme grabbed the fist Zig had just used to bruise Saad's face. "You can't do that here. You can't just attack someone." She seemed to have forgotten that just last semester she'd verbally attacked Zig for calling her easy in the exact same hallway. Zig hated how hypocritical Esme Song could be. He'd only gotten with her because she was a professional distractor. Sex, drinking, partying... She was a pro. And that's what he thought he needed in order to get over Maya. But it was never enough.  
"I had him!" Zig exclaimed in response, and Esme pulled him into an empty classroom away from the crowd that had accumulated to watch the scene. "Why did you do that? I had him right there."  
A tone Zig had never quite heard before came from Esme. She sounded... concerned. Like she really cared about him. "Because! Beating some rando to a pulp isn't going to solve anything. Saad didn't cause Maya to overdose. Maya's brain caused it. Maya caused it. It’s not that black and white. I should know." She paused, tears welling in her eyes. "It took me years to learn. It's not anyone's fault. If Maya really wanted to die, she was going to try whether Saad took some stupid photos or not."  
"Because you're an expert, right?" Zig shot back. His temper was still overflowing. He hadn't gotten to take out everything he wanted to take out on Saad because of Esme. He had zero control over what was coming out of his mouth.  
"And you're an expert at being an ass." Esme said. Her caring tone had melted away. She shoved him back and stormed off.  
“My office, now.” Mr. Simpson spoke from behind Zig. First day of the semester and he was already ending up in the Principal’s Office… Nice going, Zig. 

**Maya** found herself outside of the school. The first classes had just started, but she didn't have it in her to go inside. If anyone was getting a free pass for skipping class, Maya assumed she was probably golden. After all, she was the suicide girl who caused there to be a school therapist.  
Maybe, Maya thought, this should've happened when Cam died. Sure, there were therapists around for a couple months, but once the hype died down and the memorials took place, they moved elsewhere. Nobody cared about the mental health of the students once Cam's death became a memory. She wondered if staying in therapy would've helped this. Or maybe even prevented this.  
Her thoughts were interrupted when Saad stormed out of the school with a freshly bruised jaw. She shot up from where she was sitting. The two hadn't talked since the night of her suicide attempt when she apparently talked to him in a drug-induced haze. She figured it was probably best to never contact him again. After all, he'd seen her at her worst. He knew every dark detail. She could never truly feel comfortable around someone who knew how dark her mind could get when she was trying to recover.  
She couldn't help herself, though. Saad was the one person she could comfortably talk to last semester. It wasn't so easy to break these habits. It'd taken her months to get used to not talking to Zig every day.  
"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, but Saad ignored her. "Please, Saad. What happened? You can talk to me. I know I disappeared, but something is wrong..." Maya followed him as he stomped away from the steps in front of the school and toward the parking lot.  
He wasn't going to stop, so she reached her fingers out to meet his shoulder. That was when he finally turned around. "Ever since I got here, I have heard backhanded comments and straight out insults about my religion. I've been getting tortured non-stop. And now I'm getting blamed because you decided to try to kill yourself. I didn't know. I wasn't encouraging you. I just wanted to be there for you."  
Maya noticed a break in Saad's voice. It was really getting to him.  
"And then your ex-boyfriend comes out of nowhere and attacks me. Blaming me. Calling me awful names. I did nothing to you."  
Maya stopped in her tracks. "Wait, Zig?" Saad nodded, confirming. This caused a lot of confusion. Zig hadn't visited her in the hospital once, and from what she saw last semester, he was all Esme all the time now. Why would he beat up someone for her?  
Punching Saad did sound like something Zig would do, though. He always resorted to the biggest possible reaction, when most of the time it was completely or at least partially misguided or unnecessary. He could never control his dumb boy impulses.  
She looked to Saad's bruised face and then back at the front steps of the school. Before thinking, her lips met Saad's jaw, placing a light kiss. "I'm so sorry. I swear I'll make it better. All of it. Somehow."

 **Zoe** had interviewed three candidates during lunch. The first was Vijay, the kid who had dated Tristan for two seconds and outed Zoe. Pass. The second was Goldi's little brother Baaz, who spent the entire interview talking about how being school president would finally land him a hot girlfriend...pass. The girl with the red wig, Yael, had some promising ideas, but the friends she surrounded herself with made Zoe concerned that she'd be a little too influenced by her loser friends and might not lead Degrassi to the best of her ability. Not an official pass, but Zoe just wasn't feeling it.  
She wished so deeply that Goldi was a junior rather than a senior. Goldi honestly deserved to take over after Tristan, but Zoe got thrust into the role and didn't say no. And she didn't regret agreeing to the position -- it was one of the best things that ever happened to her. But trying to find a successor felt like it was taking years off of her life.  
"I know I'm supposed to just let go and just let the election happen next year once I'm gone, but I don't trust these underclassmen. I've worked so hard to make Degrassi great, and I just can't find the person who is going to uphold my legacy." Zoe spoke to Rasha, who was accompanying her to her final class of the day, French, which they happened to share.  
"Your legacy?" Rasha teased, interlocking her fingers with Zoe's.  
"You know what I mean..." Zoe said, shutting her locker and slinging her purse onto her shoulder. Her hand found Rasha's and a jolt went through her body. Public displays of affection were new between the two due to their concerns about being accepted by Goldi and Zoe’s mother, but it was exciting for them to finally be out as a couple.  
Rasha sighed before biting her bottom lip. "There's tons of people you haven't even talked to about this yet, you know that, right? You only interviewed three people today. Those three people don't define the search. You've got weeks."  
Zoe paused, then realized that Rasha was right. She was right to stress, but maybe she was wrong to stress so much. There were hundreds of students in the school. The three people she'd interviewed weren't an accurate representation of everyone who might be interested in student government. Plus she had the whole semester to figure it out. What was the rush? She flashed a smile in Rasha's direction before pulling her girlfriend in close.  
"How did I get so lucky? You're the best." The girls stood in front of the French classroom, foreheads touching and lips only inches apart. "And you're right. I'll find that person. And when I find them, I'll know it's right." She said, before planting a kiss on Rasha's forehead, and then on her lips. Rasha smiled, and Zoe let go of her hand and headed into the classroom.  
A moment passed, and Rasha seemed lost in thought, standing in the doorway. "Come on, mon amour. Before we lose the chance to be partners." Zoe teased, and Rasha snapped back into it and followed her girlfriend to their seats.

**Zig** exited Mr. Simpson’s office and found Esme waiting for him outside.  
Esme eagerly approached him. “Did you get suspended for fighting?”  
Zig shook his head. “Simpson cut me a bit of slack because of Maya. He knows our history or whatever.”  
“Right…” Esme seemed to recoil slightly at Zig’s mention of his history with Maya. She clearly did not like being reminded. “Well, at least you’re not in trouble.”  
“I wouldn’t say that…” Zig trailed off. “Detention for a week.”  
Esme scoffed. “Seriously, Zig? So now what am I supposed to do after school all week?”  
“I don’t know, get some friends?” Zig said, then immediately regretted it. Esme was the type to take anything anyone said in the worst way possible. Not that what Zig said was nice in any context… “I just mean -- you don’t really try that hard to hang with girls in our grade. I know you don’t like Shay, but maybe… I dunno... Lola’s cool?”  
“Lola’s an idiot.” Esme said, not interested much in mincing words.  
Zig shot back. “That’s not nice.”  
Esme furrowed her brows. “Who said I was nice?” She started walking away from Zig now, clearly less concerned about him now that she learned the severity of his punishment. “You gonna apologize for what you said earlier in the hallway?”  
Zig never fully knew what he was apologizing for. “I’m sorry.” He said simply, hoping that would appease Esme.  
“That’s it?” Esme clearly wasn’t satisfied. “Alright, maybe I do need some friends. My boyfriend clearly sucks.” And with that, she flipped her side-braid behind her shoulder and walked away. “See you later, Zig Novak.” Esme said, leaving Zig confused. 


End file.
